My mini Vinitaly.

Week 7.  Tonight my class and I went Italia!  From sparkling to fortified, we had 26 wines to taste through.  So after a short film about Phylloxera, accompanied by a Spumante and a Moscato d'Asti, we were off.
The grumblings began with the very first still, white wine which was a 2010 Sardinian Vermentino from producer Arigolas which was just charming - or so I thought.  Dr. Krebs, yet again, had to point out that not all wines of the world are made in Napa's image. And that, like the wines of Spain and Portugal, Italian wines are really intended as an accompaniment to food.  So someone piped in and suggested that the Vermentino might pair well with calamari, at which point the professor regaled us with a story of meeting a model, down in San Diego in the 70s, who had posed for the International Calamari Council's (or something like that) industry calendar wearing nothing but calamari.  He never did find out which month she had been!
There were several standout wines for me tonight.  Amongst the whites, besides the Vermentino, I enjoyed a Sicilian Notalusa, 2009 Grillo and a Campanian Feudi di San Gregorio, 2010 Falanghina. My preferred reds of the evening included; a Terre dei Sicani, 2008 Nero d'Avola (IGT Sicily); a Luisi, 2010 Barbera (DOC Asti); a Zenato, 2007 Amarone (DOC Valpolicella); a Fattoria del Cerro, 2008 'Vino Nobile' (DOGC Montepulciano);  and, last but not least, my favourite of the night, a Rivetto, 2008 Barolo (DOCG Serralunga).  Not surprisingly, the majority of the class enjoyed a Ponti, 2009 'Super Tuscan' (IGT Toscano) priced at $120.99.  Of course they did, it was the wine that was most Napa-like!
Next...

Gaudete, 2011.

Once again, it's Gaudete Sunday. And, once again I'm indulging in something pink (but this year, Italian) to pair with dinner. I'm also rejoicing at the fact that I got my tree up and decorated. Phew!
The 2009 Tenuta Guado Al Tasso Bolgheri Scalabrone Rosato is a delightful wine. It's a rather fleshy rosé, extremely fruity (dried cranberry and plum), deeply pink, well balanced, with a surprisingly long finish. I love Italian wines. If I wasn't Liverpool-Catholic I think I'd like to be Italian-Catholic...better wine. I'm just sayin'!

Sing it again Maddy!

Christmas in November?

I received my first Christmas gift today. I know, Halloween was a mere 3 days ago, Bonfire Night is still 2 days hence, and Thanksgiving (if you happen to be an English person who cares about that particular holiday), is yet more than 3 weeks away. But Christmas is looming large already; on telly commercials, in the shops and apparently, on the mind of my own personal Santa! An extremely generous co-worker left a rather large, gift-wrapped package for me at the winery, with the instruction to open it and enjoy it with my family before Christmas, if I wished. So open it I did, but only after I nearly threw my back out picking it up!
What was it? Oh, just a 6 litre bottle of 1998 La Vita Lucente. This Sangiovese/Merlot blend from Tuscany was the brainchild of Florence’s Lamberto Frescobaldi and Napa Valley’s Robert Mondavi when they united their efforts in 1995 to create a world class Italian wine.
I happen to love Italian wines, so this is going to be interesting...I just need to quickly organise a party to aid in the polishing off of what is the equivalent of eight bottles of wine. Any volunteers?